A man-made plague has swept the earth, but a small group survives, along with the green-eyed Crakers - a gentle species bio-engineered to replace humans. Toby, onetime member of the Gods Gardeners and expert in mushrooms and bees, is still in love with street-smart Zeb, who has an interesting past. The Crakers' reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy, is hallucinating; Amanda is in shock from a Painballer attack; and Ivory Bill yearns for the provocative Swift Fox, who is flirting with Zeb.

Publisher's Summary

A man-made plague has swept the earth, but a small group survives, along with the green-eyed Crakers - a gentle species bio-engineered to replace humans.

Toby, onetime member of the Gods Gardeners and expert in mushrooms and bees, is still in love with street-smart Zeb, who has an interesting past. The Crakers' reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy, is hallucinating; Amanda is in shock from a Painballer attack; and Ivory Bill yearns for the provocative Swift Fox, who is flirting with Zeb. Meanwhile, giant Pigoons and malevolent Painballers threaten to attack.

Told with wit, dizzying imagination, and dark humour, Booker Prize-winning Margaret Atwood's unpredictable, chilling and hilarious MaddAddam takes us further into a challenging dystopian world and holds up a skewed mirror to our own possible future.

Having just listened to Oryx and Crake and The Year of The Flood I was thrilled to see that I wouldn't have to wait for the third book. Sadly, I am struggling with it. So far too much going over what happened in the first two books is tedious. But what is really spoiling it for me is the narration. I absolutely loved the narrator of Oryx and Crake, was slightly less enamoured of the narrator for the year of the flood, but the powers that be obviously decided it had to be a woman and I did get used to her voice. So far, in this book, the narrators aren't doing anything for me and I'm not sure if I will continue with the audio book, maybe it would be better to read it in print.

Would you be willing to try another book from Margaret Atwood? Why or why not?

I love Maraget Atwood' s books and have read a lot of them. She has beautiful turn of phrase and would thoroughly recommend them to anyone.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of the narrators?

I would have used the narrator of Oryx and Crane his voice is delicious, and the 'parts' really don't have to be gender narrated.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

E

Dublin, Ireland

10/22/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Good book, bad audiobook"

What did you like best about MaddAddam? What did you like least?

I have been looking forward to the final instalment of the MaddAddam trilogy since listening to the first two books in the series.Atwood's plausible (almost frighteningly close to probable) tale of the collapse of society was beautifully told in the audiobook versions of Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.

Normally I don't write reviews, but in this case my enjoyment of the book was impacted so much by the production of the audiobook that I feel it's important to leave feedback.

For the first two books I understood the decision to use a male narrator for the book with a male protagonist and female for book with a female one. Neither narrator blew my socks off the way some narrators can, but it was still easy to listen to them tell the story and become lost in the book. The decision to not re-use one of those narrators was disappointing. The decision to use 3 entirely new narrators is puzzling.

I don't know if they rushed in order to launch the audiobook at the same time as the print version, but the quality is definitely not as high as the standard I expect from Audible. The two main narrators take charge several times each, broadly covering Toby and Zeb's voices. However the story doesn't provide clean division of labour for these roles, so often the narrator switches at an awkward time, and both narrators do double duty as both Toby and Zeb's voices which is a little strange. The fact that a third narrator is introduced for a single isolated chapter is even stranger.

I stopped listening several times during the first chapter as I really struggled with Bernadette Dunne's style, which sounded rushed (little things, like hearing a hesitation as she followed a sentence to the next line). I even went so far as to buy a print copy of the book, the only thing that stopped me was the price of the hardback being so high!

In the end I persevered, which I somewhat regret. I think I would have enjoyed reading this book myself much more than listening to this version. The production is adequate, but I don't think that's good enough.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

M

Wakefield, United Kingdom

10/12/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Inspiring."

The Maddaddam trilogy has been one of the audiobook highlights of my year: a wonderfully imaginative production of an amazing story. This is literary science-fiction at its best, and Margaret Atwood has used beautifully drawn characters, in a scarily plausible world, to explore such themes as the birth of religion, the consequences of science and our specie's place in the biosphere. Her writing is, as ever, rich with unexpected imagery and beauty, and she's always willing to go into the darkest places of our minds. An epic creation that I would thoroughly recommend to all. Cheers!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Madeline

York, United Kingdom

10/29/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Weakest of the Trilogy but still Excellent"

I have really enjoyed listening to this, especially the first half, although I found the story flagging a little in the second and I thought the ending was flabby, especially for Atwood. There isn't the bite and development of plot in this volume that there is in the previous two but this is the post apocalyptic stage when there is by definition less drama. I didn't find the references back to the first 2 volumes at all repetitive; on the contrary I felt that the story was continuing to be built up in layers and it made me want to go back and listen to the first part again. There is so much in these novels of a future dystopia that speaks of our world now and the direction in which it is going and I find the whole trilogy very dark despite the humour. Atwood retains her inimitable style, use of language and imagery and gentle irony and humour which is always a pleasure to read or listen to.I thought the readers were very good and I liked the way in which they alternated, and the appearance of the third voice at the end. In particular they appreciated the dryness of the humour of the book and made the most of it and their pacing was excellent. Also their voices were easy to listen to, not always the case with those from across the pond. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

T

Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom

9/4/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"intelligent, witty and a really good listen"

I love Margaret Attwood's dark humour and beautifully crafted writing. This final part of the trilogy started in "Oryx and Crake" (also an excellent listen) does not disappoint. Characters and situations in this post-apocalyptic near-future are further developed and explored, with biting satire. It's beautiful because it is simultaneously horrifying, poignant and very funny. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Spirit

Cornwall

5/16/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"perfection in speculative fiction"

Where does MaddAddam rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best I've listened to but it does form part of a trilogy so it would be best to read the previous two books first. Oryx and Crake and the The Year of the Flood.

What did you like best about this story?

Margaret Atwood does her "speculative"fiction perfectly. As with the Handmaid's Tale, the future is just around the corner and really makes you question where science, society, religion are going. A lot to think about but wrapped around a genuinely page turning read/listen

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favourite?

Toby and Blackbeard. The narrator on this young character was superb - the emotional impact was tear breaking. His voice doesn't appear until near the end but when it does it's heartbreaking.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sometimes -sometimes I needed a break to digest it properly

Any additional comments?

If you want something that's a good read and will make you question the world we live in then i'd recommend this trilogy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Patch

Staffordshire

5/11/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Well I made it to the end"

So book 1 - enjoyable and ended on a cliffhanger leaving me hungry for more. Book 2 did not pick up where 1 left off, but in a clever plot trick made its way to the same point via a different route, but was a bit impenetrable with weird singing, wasn't sure but hoped book 3 would regain the tone of book 1 and romp to the finish line. It didn't. The only thing that got me to the end was the excellent narration and characterisation, plus the desire to see if the denouement was worth the journey. I leave that for you to decide, but I was just glad it was over.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Sandor

banbury, oxon, United Kingdom

1/31/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Third in the trilogy"

Any additional comments?

There absolutely no point in reading this without having read 1 & 2 , so by now you know pretty much what to expect. The story finally comes to an end, it does go on a bit but if you've read the others you're pretty much hooked now so you have to know what happens.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Michelle

Rotherham, United Kingdom

1/18/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Powerful and sublime"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this audiobook to my friends and in fact already have. It's well read, on the whole, and is the perfect accompaniment to long drives, household chores, wandering round the shops or any other moment where physically reading a book is difficult. Words on a page are still my preference but I'm becoming an audiobook fan.

This particular book is beautifully written and provides excellent closure for the trilogy. I would recommend listening to the other books first but it isn't completely necessary; Atwood does a good job of recapping the most important information. I think you'd feel more connected to the characters and story if you did know them throughout the trilogy though.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Toby is my favourite character. Her strength, resolve, motherliness and integrity made her easy to admire and connect with. I also fell a little bit in love with Zeb which took me by surprise. Blackbeard would be another choice for favourite. What a sweetheart!

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I've not heard any of these narrators before. The other novels were narrated by different people and at first I found it hard to listen to the Toby and Zeb narrators, particularly Zeb but I persevered and it was worth it. I think the Zeb narrator is the weakest. His intonation is wrong in places and it annoys me but the quality of his voice, its gruffness and depth are in keeping with the characterisation.

Some reviewers felt it was unnecessary to have 3 narrative voices but I disagree. I like the mixture of the voices - it helped me to focus on the characterisation. Although the novel is written largely in 3rd person, there are definite Toby sections and definite Zeb sections which reflect their speech and thought patterns and language. Blackbeard's chapters definitely needed a youthful, inexperienced voice in contrast.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This book moved me to both tears and laughter. At one particular point I was out. Doing my weekly shop and laughed out loud provoking stares from the other shoppers. Towards the end of the novel I found myself crying. Blackbeard's simple narration of events was heartbreaking.

Any additional comments?

MaddAddam offers a wonderful insight into what it means to be human and the nature of our relationships with each other and the world around us. Religion, society, the natural world and parenthood are just some of the themes Atwood explores in this beautifully poetic novel. It has left me with a lot of 'food for thought', if you'll excuse the cliché.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Tara

Bedford, United Kingdom

11/1/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"A Little Disappointed"

I loved the first two books in this trilogy- this not so much. I was so looking forward to it's release and it just didn't do it for me.I wondered whether it was because it had been a few years since I listened to the first two books, perhaps I'd lost the thread of the story, but I think I agree with other reviewers when they say that the narration let this book down.It wasn't terrible but the book didn't come to life for me and I just didn't care anymore about this world that had fascinated me previously.I love Margaret Atwood and her writing always appeals to me, unfortunately this was a disappointing end to what is a great trilogy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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